This invention relates to an inflatable aircraft evacuation system and especially to an inflatable slide which may also serve as a raft when an aircraft is ditched in the water. In some aircraft, there are doors which are located partially over the wing which precludes the use of a slide extending outwardly from the aircraft in a direction generally perpendicular to the fuselage. A suggested solution to this problem has been to add a horizontal platform or porch section to the upper end of the slide so that the slide can be positioned sufficiently outboard and at an angle to the aircraft to clear the edge of the wing.
It has been found that with this escape slide and platform assembly, the platform will deflect and tilt under the weight of persons on the platform causing them to lose their footing prior to reaching the slide. This has occured even though the slide is reinforced with longitudinally extending slide reinforcing tension members extending between the ends of the slide and over an inflatable laterally extending spacer member at the underside of the slide as illustrated and described in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,473,641 dated Oct. 21, 1969. In view of the fact that the aircraft door and platform for the assembly for modern jet passenger planes are located many feet off the ground, it is important that the platform be maintained in a stable horizontal position. This is especially true during emergency conditions when evacuation must be rapid in all kinds of weather during the day or night.